Dog feeder

Supposedly it's better for dogs to eat up higher, truthfully I think John just wanted to make something else out of expensive wood ( I didn't mention to him that because the dogs are switching to raw they'll most likely take the food out of the bowl and use the floor ,why burst his bubble?). It's made out of walnut, it's all one piece and the legs are hexagon. It's pretty neat how John got Enna & Makoa's section to fit into the legs of Winston's so seamlessly, but I guess that's why he gets paid the big bucks.



After John's father "water-proofed" the crap out of the feeder (remember, we do have a mastiff) we got it back last Wednesday night.

Makoa got to be the guinea pig the next morning and I think he actually liked not having to bend that far to eat after I finally got him to come close to the feeder. Winston is still a little too short for it since we guessed what his adult height might be, but he could still eat out it if he decided.

For a dog feeder it's very pretty, John did a good job.

March's block of the month

2 down, 10 more to go. This one was a tad bit harder than the last, but not too bad. I did have to re-do a couple seams since the corners weren't matching up like I like, but such is the way of triangles. I watched She's The Man while sewing, remember "chew like you have a secret".

freezers and turkeys

To do a raw diet for dogs you have to have a freezer that will only store the meat. The last few weeks I was able to get away without one because I was just doing chicken quarters, but it was costing me a pretty penny since I wasn't buying in bulk. This week we had to introduce another protein source into Winston's diet and turkey is usually the next best step. Since I didn't have a place to store from a butcher I went to a specialty dog store and picked some up, you wouldn't believe the price! John about passed out, but I told him that it had to be done. I think that's what finally got him on board with getting a freezer even though I've been pestering him about it since January.

He removed some (crappy) shelving in our storage room so that the freezer could have a home, but after he was done he informed me that we couldn't have a freezer.

John, coming upstairs to the bathroom where I'm elbow deep in bleach cleaning the tub: We can't have a freezer.
Me, as I blow hair out of my eyes and continue with my work. I'm use to his dramatic flair: Why not?
John: It won't fit through the doorway.
Me, he finally has my full attention: oh...that is a problem.
I wash the bleach off my skin and follow him down to the storage room to investigate.

After some discussions, web searching and measuring it was decided that we could have a freezer as long as it wasn't any wider than 26" with the door off so that it could get past the furnace. Since extra money is limited to us right now (stupid IRS) our only choice was to buy used and since we were so specific on size KSL wasn't working out.
We went to a used appliance store and for once luck was smiling down on us. They had one freezer that they got in that morning that happened to be 26", the lady says that they very rarely get freezers and that they go really fast, they probably won't see another freezer for 2 to 3 months.

John decided on the way home that the freezer was light enough that him and I could carry it downstairs, since I didn't want to pester anyone I agreed, but I was fearing for my life.
He got it out of the truck bed alone and once on the borrowed appliance dolly I helped push it up the stairs into the house.
Next was the scary part that I was NOT looking forward to. John held the top of the appliance dolly and I stood down the stairs holding the bottom of the fridge stabilizing it when he pushed it off the stair and onto the next. If John were to let go of the dolly, the fridge would have fallen on me and killed me dead.
Luckily I managed to live and we got the fridge down with no problem, it was easy as pie.

Getting it into the storage room and past the furnace was another task that I just wasn't able to help with. John finally had to take the door frame out and do a little demo on the 2X4's, but he managed to squish it through.

Ignore the mess, it's a storage room!

All this was done last Tuesday, but John still had to wire up an electrical plug since there was only one in the room and it wasn't even remotely close to the freezer. Last Friday he finished wiring it up and fixed the lighting so we can use a light switch for the room instead of a string pull and added another light. (he's also did SO many other projects that week!) 

We now have a working freezer and can start buying dog food meat in bulk!

March hiking

This hike happened a few weeks ago, but it got saved in my drafts and not really posted. :)

8 dogs and 6 people went hiking on a sunny, Sunday afternoon and it was pretty stellar. Not stellar in the way of views (everything was brown, dead and muddy), but stellar in company and fresh air.

John's truck was full, so we had to put the 3 dogs in my little Taurus, it wouldn't have been a big deal but Winston is the whole back seat. There were a few tiffs on the way to the canyon because Winston kept stepping on someone.

I guess here is a good place to mention Winston's problem, well past problem now. Back when he was 4 or 5 months old he started showing signs of dog aggression and we had no idea how to cure him of it. In fact, in one puppy class he bit another dog and wouldn't let go. I'm not taking blame for this though, we told everyone before hand that he was showing signs and our trainer still told us to let him go to play with the other puppies.
We got a new trainer and she sent us to K9 Lifeline and they worked their magic on him. It took a lot of our time and every Saturday morning since November, but he's so much better now. He can be around all type of dogs and has even had some situations that used to set him off before. Even on this hike one of the new dogs got grumpy with him and growled and Winston just back off. It's such a relief to know that Winston can come with us on our hikes now and I don't have to worry about him.

Anywho...Makoa was pretty happy to see his friends and get the hike started.

 

Winston was infatuated with sticks :) 

And he was already laying down after maybe 45 minutes :) but luckily he stood up and continued walking when we started up again. No way any of us were carrying a 90 pound dog the rest of the hike!

This is my new favorite picture of my kiddos, I'm so glad their recall is so good because this is actually staged. I told John to call them to him and then I called them back to me. It just happened to be smallest to biggest. 

The dogs are usually always on John's heels since he walks faster than me, even Winston is faster than me! 

Some of the dogs in our group, too hard to get every single one of them in a picture. We're actually on the road here and not the trail. Millcreek has a gate halfway up the canyon that is closed from November to May so it's used as a trail in the colder months. 

John kept giving Winston sticks to carry because he thought it was so funny. 

The ride home was less eventful since everyone was so sleepy. Ah, the bliss of silence!